OS FUNDAMENTOS NEOLIBERAIS, AS FORMAS DE IMPLEMENTAÇÃO DO NOVO ENSINO MÉDIO E REPERCUSSÕES NO INCREMENTO DE DESIGUALDADES ESCOLARES E DESIGUALDADES SOCIAIS

Abstract

This dissertation is based on the assumption that the implementation of the Brazilian high school reform instituted by Law No. 13.415/2017, known as the New High School (NEM), produces and reproduces educational inequalities among young people from the popular classes, most of whom attend public schools. The research problem consists in understanding how neoliberal foundations and their unfolding in curricular, methodological, and organizational formats affect educational inequalities and, consequently, social inequalities. The general objective was to analyze the neoliberal premises present in the legislation that regulates the NEM, its curricular framework, methodological arrangements, and organizational formats, as well as how this curricular conception impacts educational and social inequalities. The specific objectives were: a) to understand the relationship between schooling and the production of inequalities, based on different theoretical perspectives; b) to contextualize High School in Brazilian educational policy, highlighting the reform promoted by Law No. 13.415/2017 within the framework of neoliberalism; and c) to examine how the structuring elements of the New High School express neoliberal rationality and contribute, through their implementation, to the deepening of educational and social inequalities. This qualitative and bibliographic-documentary research is grounded in critical theoretical frameworks such as Bourdieu (1992), Dubet (2004), Libâneo (2012; 2018), Frigotto e Ciavatta (2003), Frigotto et al (2005), Miranda (2021), Saviani (2007; 2008; 2013), Melo (2018), Cury (2002; 2005; 2008), Romanelli (1986), Dardot e Laval (2016), Ball (2014), among others, articulating the analysis of theoretical works, educational legislation, and official documents, especially the Law of Guidelines and Bases (LDB), the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC), and the National Curriculum Guidelines for Upper Secondary Education (DCN-EM). The research examines the structuring elements of the reform, such as the increase in workload, the formative itineraries, the emptying of the general education component, the reduction of subjects such as Sociology, Philosophy, Arts, and Physical Education, curricular flexibilization, and the emphasis on competency-based training. The findings indicate that such changes express a logic of subordination of education to market demands and preparation for work, to the detriment of integral, critical, and civic education. The results suggest that the NEM, rather than democratizing access to knowledge, functions as a vector for deepening inequalities, subordinating school education to the market and the logic of employability. It is concluded that, for the majority of young people from the popular classes who attend public schools, the promise of an integral and emancipatory education has been replaced by a restricted, fragmented, and instrumental formation, which reinforces the need for redistributive policies capable of ensuring social justice and the full development of human potential.